A new People’s Garden was planted in west/central Kentucky this past Memorial Day weekend. The garden is located on the greenhouse business property of Meredith Agriculture in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. This new People’s Garden is a project of Meredith Agriculture and Central Hardin High School FFA. The garden is managed by a CHHS graduate member, Alex Meredith, and his father Steve. Several FFA members, parents, and siblings of FFA members gathered to plant a 4,500 square foot garden of tomatoes, sweet corn, potatoes, squash, lima beans, and watermelons. The produce will be donated to several local agencies that help the needy.

Throughout the year, the FFA members plan to tend and harvest the garden using proven horticulture techniques. In less than two weeks members will gather again to completely mulch the garden with rye straw and create trellises for the lima beans and tomatoes. Any water used on the garden will come directly from the creek that adjoins the property, thereby avoiding the use of treated municipal water.

Several work days are planned in the coming months and the community will be invited to participate in at least two “harvest weekends”. Central Hardin FFA advisor, Larry Hendrick calls the project “a wonderful opportunity for the students to engage in “hands- on” horticulture while serving their community”.